Forgiveness

John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)



My heart was heavy, for its trust had been
Abused, its kindness answered with foul wrong;
So, turning gloomily from my fellow-men,
One summer Sabbath day I strolled among
The green mounds of the village burial-place;
Where, pondering how all human love and hate
Find one sad level; and how, soon or late,
Wronged and wrongdoer, each with meekened face,
And cold hands folded over a still heart,
Pass the green threshold of our common grave,
Whither all footsteps tend, whence none depart,
Awed for myself, and pitying my race,
Our common sorrow, like a mighty wave,
Swept all my pride away, and trembling I forgave!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 29, 2023

32 sec read
257

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEFFEGHGEHH
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 623
Words 108
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. more…

All John Greenleaf Whittier poems | John Greenleaf Whittier Books

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